Reassembly

Thought I'd post some pics of the reassembly of the Supermono.

The first shows essentially the rolling chassis starting to come together, sans engine. At first, I wasn't too thrilled with the primer coat on the frame and swingarm. Seemed to be perpetually soft, and just moving it around the garage saw both get marks on the primer, although nothing went through to the bare metal underneath. However, after a couple of weeks, the primer seems to have cured properly. Plan is to leave it like this until I am sure the frame will hold together, crack free.

As I tried to describe, by mixing and matching swingarm bearings and bushings between a DRZ400 and the Aprilia Pegaso (the swingarm), surprisingly the parts mated together. Now I can have "proper" torrington/needle bearings with a hardened spacer pivoting within, and the correct 17mm shaft running though the engine. No bronze bushings for me -- the tolerances are much closer, and brings the mechanism into the 1980s! Like I may have stated, old 70s TZ250s had bronze bushings slip-fitted to axles. Old school! Now I need to get some spacers machined to install outboard of the swingarm -- pretty sure the spacers I had for the inside arms of the swingarm should work. Need to get the engine installed first, and then measure it.

This is a pic of the Hyperco CBR600 shock I got from the UK. Proper rebound and compression damping, as well as a threaded preload collar, not the stepped one of the stock shock -- will allow for more accurate adjustment. As well, the design of the lower eyelet will let me use a simpler, lighter, and "cleaner" alloy spacer than the mix and match steel sleeves and washers I had used last season.

My faith in "hammered" paint has taken a hit as it has not held up nearly as well on the swingarm as I had hoped. I had properly prepped the primer coat, and painted it inside, but with any "stress" it came off -- however the primer coat held up all right. This pic shows the smaller alloy rear sprocket I got from AF1 (will be going with a 15-37 rather than a 16-40), and the swingarm bobbin I installed prior to it being painted. Will allow for a much more secure mounting on the swingarm stand.

In other news, I got word from Eddie Sinceros that my new valves and springs are installed in my cylinder head, and the whole assembly is on its way back to me. When it arrives, I'll install it on the engine, check the valve timing about 100 times to be sure, and install it in the frame. Again, the OEM manual and copious amounts of online help and photos should make the process a bit more idiot proof. I did see the results of a European dude who had sent his heads to Eddie to get the same work done, and screwed up the timing. What a mess! Again, all the research indicates that this is the "best" mod to do to the DRZ to make it bulletproof for long-term high revs usage.

On the Ducati front, the frame has been powdercoated. Saw it on the weekend, but they forgot to mask the inside of the steering stem. They're going to remove the powder for me, and I'll pick it up between Drs appts on Tuesday this week. Looks really good -- thick, durable coat of powder -- bomb proof! Will post a pic when I get it home.

If you are a fan, you know that Rossi already had the title wrapped up, but the last ever 250 GP championship was still up for grabs. Turns out Scot Honda rider Aoyama won, after running off track and dropping down to 11th. He needed to maintain that spot if Simoncelli won, but the Gilera rider dumped it at about 2/3rds distance.

My slight brush with fame took place at the MotoGP race at Indy. We went to the local steakhouse for dinner after checking in, and ran into the members of the Scot Honda team having dinner. Not sure if they wreched for DeRosa, or either of the back of the pack MotoGp riders (a Japanese and/or a Hungarian) but their shirts were right, and they were having a lot of fun. Not sure if we understood each other, but they were obliging at least!